


Apricot Flavoured Memories

by Madam_Violet



Series: The Vault Chronicles [21]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Book: The Missy Chronicles, Gen, Missy has a personnal sense of social justice, The Vault (Doctor Who), past companion memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-05
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-04-18 23:28:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14224161
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madam_Violet/pseuds/Madam_Violet
Summary: Missy may have forgotten many poeple, she still remembers the woman who gave her a name.





	Apricot Flavoured Memories

**Author's Note:**

> I have so much to update, a prompt to write and I'm still indulging myself in writting my headcanons ^^.

Ordinary Sunday in the Vault, the Doctor and Missy were watching TV in a companionable silence. They had run out of topics for a while and were both too lazy to start a board game or anything you could remotely call an activity. But the Doctor knew it was okay, if Missy was bored, she would show it one way or another. When the episode of whatever cheap sci-fi show they were watching cut for the ads, Missy cleared her throat.  
"Yes, Missy ?"  
"I was wondering, have you already had, I don't know, news, or any sign from a former human companion ?"  
"Yes, sometimes. Why this question ?"  
"Did it make you sad or happy ?"  
"It depends on of what kind of news."  
"I think it's good news."  
"In that case, I'm happy. But I can also be a bit sad, if this person meant a lot to me and I realise I miss them. Why do you ask ?"  
Missy tilted her head and blinked slowly, looking for her words.  
"I think I have. I don't know if this human female was really a companion, though. I've only travelled a bit with her. She was more a pawn in my revenge."  
Now Missy was growing fidgety. The doctor turned the TV off to concentrate on Missy's revelations. She was visibly struggling with something she didn't grasp and it was way more interesting than whatever show they were watching before.  
"And you had good news about her ?" he asked with a bit of worry. "Where did you got them ?"  
"On TV. She's been really successful since last time I saw her. She's kinda rich and famous now."  
"Did you make her rich and famous ?"  
"I contributed to it."  
"Why, was it part of a plan ?"  
"Yes. I wanted her to crush a very rude and very bad man."  
"In what kind of business is she succeeding ?"  
"Nothing for you to worry about. The way she got her capital is a bit shady, but her business is perfectly honest. Well, I think it is, I'm not behind her back to tell you."  
"You made her succeed to get revenge on an enemy of yours. And afterwards you've let her live ? Why ?"  
"Because alive, she was a living testimony to this lowlife's failure."  
Missy started fidgeting again, playing with the hem of her sleeves.  
"Do you want to talk about her ?" the Doctor asked.  
"Yes. If you want to listen."  
"I always want to listen to you, you know that."  
Missy smiled and swallowed painfully.  
"Why are you shy like this today ?"  
"Because it's an old story and I don't want to lie to you but I'm not sure everything I remember is true."  
"If you don't remember well it's not lying."  
"I remember well. It's just the way I felt about things and the way I feel now which is different and I don't know what is true."  
"Tell me things as you remember them and I'll help you with your feelings, okay ?"  
Missy smiled and the Doctor stood up to retrieve her calming jar. Watching the star shaped glitters slowly moving in the glue often helped Missy to concentrate.  
"I think it was my first day after I regenerated. I'd just picked my outfit, all purple and classy. I went to my club, the Scoundrels Gentlemen Club. It's like a supervillain club, with only supervillains, if such beings exist on Earth. I was feeling really bad, you know how regeneration works. But they refused to serve me any tea or biscuits. At first, I didn't understand, they knew it was me, they had recognised me. But it was because of my new body, they said now I was a lady I had nothing to do there."  
"Yes, sometimes Earth isn't a good place for women."  
"I didn't know I was a woman back then. Well, I knew I had gained some plumpy Dalek bumps and lost other stuff, but it wasn't really important because I was still me and I didn't feel different."  
"So you got your revenge ? A bloody one, I suppose."  
"Yes, I killed some of them in a imaginative way. They were very bad people you know."  
"I guess they were, but you're a very bad person too and I didn't let them kill you."  
"It's because I'm not that bad."  
"You are really evil and you know it."  
"I know" she said sheepishly.  
The Doctor smiled at her to encourage her with the tale. Now he was curious to know where she was going with this story.  
"The founder of the club was Mr Mandeville. His ancestors had created the club centuries ago and I wanted to chop the tree at its roots. His ancestors had made their fortune with a sugar plantation and they were slave owners."  
"I think I see where you're going. He denied you membership because you were a woman, a lesser being in his perception of things, so you made sure he would be crushed by another woman, a slave at the bottom of the ladder. Am I right ?"  
"Yes, it was my plan."  
"How did you feel about the plantation ?"  
"I don't know. Maybe anger. Now I'm angry but I think I was angry back then too. But not the bad, painful anger. More the exciting anger that makes me want to create chaos."  
"Like the time you created this feminist group online ?"  
"No, not really. When I created the group I felt really angry because something was hurting me personally. In the plantation nothing was affecting me. I think I was a bit happy too, because I had confirmation you were wrong about humans. They are like Time Lords, despicable and foul."  
"Okay. It's not good to feel happy because reality is darker than you thought. However, it's good you had this sense of injustice, even if it didn't cause the right kind of reaction from you. You talked about Time Lords. Is it what it inspired you ? It reminded you Gallifrey ?"  
Missy nodded.  
"Yes. Except it's absurd because it's lower beings enslaving other lower beings. Maybe beings that are superior to them actually. I guess that's what makes this silly little rock so entertaining."  
"I don't really agree with your sense of humour, but you seem to place humans on an equal level and I guess it's kind of good."  
"Why wouldn't I ? They're all the same little nano-brain apes. They just distinguish themselves with something as shallow as skin colour. It's stupid. It's like saying blonds are more intelligent than gingers. What's the logic behind it ? The scientific justification ? On Gallifrey there are Time Lords and non Time Lords, like Shobogans. But it's easy to understand why the first dominate on the others. They are very old, they can regenerate, they have access to a hive consciousness through the matrix. I'm not saying it's fair, I'm just saying it's understandable."  
"You thought about all this back then ? It's pretty basic sense of justice, but I guess it's a good start. How did you pick a companion ? Randomly ? By choice ?"  
"I think I chose her on purpose."  
"Why her ? Was she special ?"  
"Yes, she was. I think I chose her because I somehow fancied her. Not like Chantho or Lucy, who I chose for their ability or social position. Saffron was nobody special but yet she was sort of amazing. Is it stupid ?"  
"No, Missy. It's not stupid."  
The Doctor was smiling now, a wide, dopey smile that made Missy feel confused.  
"Why are you smiling like this ?" she snapped with a frown "Am I saying something funny ?"  
"No, you're not. You're saying something really clever and I'm proud of you. Why did you like her ?"  
"Because she was a lot like me, I think. Not quite like me, but very impressive for a little human old only of a few decades. She was a survivor, the kind of person who steps back against no sacrifice to get what she wants. She was kind of ambitious too. And she had a sparkle of evil in her. I could feel it."  
"What made you say that ?"  
"She was a free woman. She had bought her freedom by selling her six children."  
Missy paused there, visibly feeling uneasy. The Doctor waited until the knot in her throat disappeared.  
"But she had stayed by the plantation so she could see them. They didn't know who she was but she was still watching over them. She had a little canteen. It didn't make her rich, but she made a pretty good living of it, considering the time and the place. But I think in another time and another place she could have make a real fortune out of her cooking. Well, it's what she did. She became a very famous chef when I was finished with my plan."  
"And what was it ? Your plan ?"  
"I made her the cook of the Scoundrels club so she could poison them all. Not a lethal poison, something way more funny."  
The Doctor cringed a little at the word "funny", knowing very well what Missy could label as fun.  
"You know, I didn't have to manipulate her a lot. She even helped me a bit with the practicalities."  
"Just for the sake of revenge, or did you promised her something else ?"  
"I think revenge was enough, but I also had to make something about her family, it was part of the plan."  
"What did you do with them ?"  
"I set them free. Not in the loose, they would have been captured or would have died and it wouldn't have been as satisfying. I made sure her lineage made history. Not only hers, but all the slaves Mandeville had owned. They didn't quite change the world, of course, but they survived and some of their descendants probably had careers of prestige at some points of the History. They deserved it better than that sleazy Mandeville slug anyway. All of them, I've known almost everyone of them in my life, all worthless scum !"  
Missy was smiling smugly and the Doctor began to feel conflicted too. She surely had done a good thing, but with a questionable motive. He decided not to push on the facts she was currently hiding, the simple fact she didn't boast about them showed she felt shame. Whether it was genuine shame or fear of a sermon, it was still a good thing to be encouraged.  
"Saffron ? You mean Saffron Mandeville, the pastry cook from this cooking show on Thursdays ? She's quite the harsh one in the jury."  
"Not harsh, realistic. That's the burden of talented people, honey."  
Missy had lifted her eyes from the glitter bottle and was now looking at the Doctor right in the eyes. The fact she didn't avoid eye contact made him feel easier. Dealing with a fragile and confused Missy wasn't the best part of the job. He often felt like he could break her with a single sharp frown.  
"She's a classy woman. No wonder she caught your eyes."  
"You know how I like people with little morals and real ambitions. Saffron was all of this and even more. She had sold her own children to get her freedom and her own property. And don't think she didn't love them. She loved them more than everything. She sacrificed her own blood and flesh because she felt like she deserved better."  
"Things weren't simple at this time, Missy. You can't judge a woman like Saffron for doing what she did" the Doctor said with his Mr Righteous voice.  
Missy laughed wildly.  
"You talk as if she was a victim. Do you really think what she endured justified her acts ? How patronising of you, Doctor. Saffron had always been a free woman. The kind of person who stands on her own. A survivor."  
"So you related on her ?"  
"Related ? Dear, we're birds of same feathers, peas in a pod, best friends forever. She even gave me a name. Nothing fancy or fussy, just Missy."  
The Doctor frowned.  
"You mean you actually saw a human as your equal ?"  
Missy sneered.  
"Don't be silly. I never said I saw her as my equal. She's only a bright light in a night of mediocrity. I'm always amazed by the capacity some humans have to shine, it's a waste they just rot on this miserable little planet."  
The Doctor was smiling now and Missy rolled her eyes.  
"Drop that dopey smile of yours ! I'm telling you humans are a degenerated race and the only one I have respect for are the ones who are able to send their morality and feelings to Hell to fulfil their desires. Not exactly your vision of good."  
"You're so close, Missy. You've always been so close ! One day you'll shine like a supernova. I promise you'll be brilliant."  
"How sentimental of you."

A few days later, the Doctor entered the Vault with a bakery cardboard. Missy lifted her eyes from the vintage Vogue edition she was flicking on the bed.  
"Tea time ? How nice !" she cooed.  
"I have a special treat for you" the Doctor said with a smile.  
"Hmm, apricot shortcake. It's so beautiful. I haven't seen such a beautiful pastry since..." Missy's voice broke at the realisation.  
"I remember Mrs Mandeville making a remark on the TV show about this cake being the favourite treat of an old friend of hers."  
"You've been to her shop" Missy simply stated in shock.  
"Maybe I did. And maybe I asked the young and smiling employee to take me to her boss."  
Missy bit her lower lip as she gave a closer look to the cake. On the lace trimmed paper beneath the cake, a small note was written in pink ink, with the neatest handwriting ever : “for Missy”. A muffled sob escaped the Time Lady's lips before the flood overwhelmed her clear blue eyes.  
"You can cry, Missy. It's okay to cry when you're feeling happy and emotional about something."  
Missy sobbed and smile at the same time, a smudge of apricot on the corner of her nude lips, and she never had looked more beautiful.


End file.
